Jump to main content.

Fact Sheet

July 2005

Third Five-Year Review Begins
Cherokee County Superfund Site, Cherokee County, Kansas

INTRODUCTION

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducts regular five-year reviews on Superfund sites where cleanups have been completed. These reviews are required by the Superfund law [42 U.S.C. § 9621(c)]. EPA Region 7 and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment have initiated their third five-year review of the Cherokee County Superfund site in Cherokee County, Kansas.

Site Background

The Cherokee County Superfund site spans 115 square miles and represents the Kansas portion of the former Tri-State mining district. The historic mining district encompasses 2,500 square miles in southeast Kansas, northeast Oklahoma, and southwest Missouri.

Using the underground room and pillar method of mining, the mining of zinc (sphalerite) and lead (galena) ores began in Kansas in the 1870s and continued until 1970. The site was placed on the National Priorities List in 1983.

Because of the large geographic area of mining in Kansas, the site has been divided into seven subsites to manage cleanups. The subsites are identified as Galena, Baxter Springs, Treece, Badger, Lawton, Waco, and Crestline. These seven subsites correspond to the areas where most of the mining occurred within the site and where physical surface disturbances were present.

The primary historic sources of contamination at the site are the residual metal sulfides from past mining practices and smelting operations. When exposed to the atmosphere, the metal sulfides remaining in the abandoned mine workings, tailings, and chat piles can increase the acidity in surface water and ground water. This is referred to as acid mine drainage. The acid mine drainage moves through natural springs, mine shafts, and surface depressions to spread the metals contamination to rivers, creeks, lakes and the shallow aquifer.

Cleanups Under Review

Several environmental cleanups have been conducted in the various subsites of the Cherokee County Superfund site. The goal of this five-year review process is to assess the ongoing, long-term effectiveness of these completed cleanups:

Galena, Kansas – A rural water district serving over 500 households was constructed on the outskirts of Galena. Over 700 residential yards in Galena and 900 acres of mine waste in areas surrounding Galena were cleaned up.

Baxter Springs, Kansas –Approximately 40 residential yards in Baxter Springs and 160 acres of mine wastes in areas surrounding Baxter Springs were cleaned up.

Treece, Kansas – Approximately 40 residential yards at the Treece subsite were cleaned up.

Future Work

Planned or pending environmental cleanups at the Cherokee County site are not included in this review but the Administrative Records on these projects are available at the Site Repositories. A mine waste cleanup is pending for the Badger, Lawton, Waco, and Crestline subsites. Continued assessment of the Spring River Basin is planned in the future.

Additional Information

Administrative Records associated with the various cleanups are available at the following locations during normal business hours:

Galena Public Library
315 West 7th Street
Galena, Kansas
(All Galena area work)

Johnston Public Library
210 West 10th Street
Baxter Springs, Kansas
(Baxter Springs and Treece work)

Columbus Public Library
205 N. Kansas Avenue
Columbus, Kansas
(Pending Badger, Lawton, Waco, and Crestline work)

EPA Region 7 Records Center
901 North Fifth Street
Kansas City, Kansas
(All Records)

If you have questions or need additional information on the Cherokee County Superfund site or the five-year review process, please contact:

Fritz Hirter
Community Involvement Coordinator
EPA Region 7
901 N. 5th Street
Kansas City, KS 66101
Toll free: 1-800-223-0425
E-mail: hirter.fritz@epa.gov

Dave Drake
Project Manager, Superfund Division
EPA Region 7
901 N. 5th Street
Kansas City, KS 66101
Toll free: 1-800-223-0425
E-mail: drake.dave@epa.gov

 

Local Navigation

Jump to main content.